The Devil's Disciple

For its first fully staged production, ShawChicago has chosen George Bernard Shaw's alleged melodrama. A case of mistaken identity in 1777 brings together dissolute rebel Dick Dudgeon, an upstanding minister and his ditzy wife, and acid-tongued General Burgoyne, whose defeat by the Yanks is presented here as the result of an aristocrat back home taking vacation before executing orders despite an impending crisis (ahem). Robert Scogin's staging takes almost the whole first act to find its legs. But when Martin Yurek enters as Dudgeon, things perk up considerably: Yurek gleefully rips off Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, and his droll roguery is expertly matched by Tony Dobrowolski's fatalistic, phlegmatic Burgoyne. Through 4/15: Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, 312-409-5605, $10-$30.